1. Field of the Invention (Technical Field)
An embodiment of the present invention relates to a method and apparatus for dispensing a plurality of beverages. Particularly, an embodiment of the present invention relates to method and apparatus for dispensing beverages which are stored in a concentrated form.
2. Description of Related Art
Note that the following discussion refers to a number of publications by author(s) and year of publication, and that due to recent publication dates certain publications are not to be considered as prior art vis-a-vis the present invention. Discussion of such publications herein is given for more complete background and is not to be construed as an admission that such publications are prior art for patentability determination purposes.
Each year 656,557,800,000 beverages are packaged and sold globally. Approximately 54.1% are carbonated soft drinks, 25.6% are bottled water, 14.6% are fruit beverages, and 5.7% are ready-to-drink tea and/or coffee. (Beverage World September 2004, Pg. 20). According to the Container Recycling Institute, in America alone, over one trillion aluminum beverage cans have been trashed from 1972-2003. In today's market this would be worth over 21 billion dollars. The cost of manufacturing such drinks include thousands of square miles of habitat loss on every major continent, the displacement of tens of thousands of indigenous people, and the release of tons of greenhouse gasses and other toxic air and water pollutants. For these environmental reasons alone, many states have instituted a redemption charge on a variety of beverage containers. Fees vary by state and package; for example, in California, 4 cents per 12 oz can or 96 cents per case of 24-12 oz containers is assessed in hope of increasing the recycling rate. This tactic works in varying degrees. The cost is completely absorbed by the consumer at a cost of millions of dollars yearly. Although such fees have been implemented, recycling rates have actually declined in the past few years. The solution: raise taxes or find another alternative.
Another inconvenience of present day containers in the beverage industry is the constant hassle of the commute back and forth to retail outlets to replenish the regularly depleted supply of heavy liquid-filled containers. Many times this happens at the most inopportune time (during parties, gatherings, telecast games, meals, holiday events, family functions, etc).
Today's beverages consume an unworldly amount of cubic space and money in all fronts, including shipping, warehousing, retail, and residential. Many retailers (mostly restaurants and convenience stores) and beverage producers realize this inefficiency and have moved towards correcting this situation by offering commercial post-mix beverages to their consumers, thus saving their commercial customers valuable retail space while increasing their profitability. While these current commercial post-mix dispensers offer a solution for commercial applications, they are far too bulky, complex, and expensive for residential use.
Ideally a residential post mix beverage dispenser should be capable of dispensing multiple beverages having different viscosities and dilution with either carbonated or non-carbonated water. In an attempt to dispense multiple beverages having different viscosities, apparatuses have employed costly pumps, which need to be adjusted when changing product types. Other beverage dispenser designs may attempt to avoid the potential of carbonating syrups by utilizing different gasses which can be inconvenient as people are required to stock and maintain a carbonation gas and a non-carbonation gas. Alternatively, specialized containers may be provided for different product types, each with a different nozzle for each individual need. Such costly, specially-adapted systems are undesirable for numerous obvious reasons. Finally, pressurized syrup canisters provide an explosion hazard where heat or puncture can potentially cause such a cylinder to explode thus resulting in personal injuries as well as damage property.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,915,925 discloses a residential beverage dispenser wherein syrup containers are individually pressurized and can thus self-expel syrups. The syrup and water (carbonated or noncarbonated) combine in a mixer for dispensing through a channel into a cup. The beverage dispenser is wholly located within a refrigerator door thereby limiting the selection of beverages that may be dispensed. The beverage dispenser fails to provide the ability to accurately monitor and control pressures in each canister individually in order to control the flow rates of the concentrate being dispensed. The beverage dispenser fails to control the flow rates for the different syrup viscosity beverages thus creating a potential to over or under carbonate the syrup in diet colas and other concentrates, thus producing undesirable results. Further, the beverage interfaces with the mixing channel where it will leave syrup residue within the mixing channel and encourage mold and bacteria growth thereby necessitating frequent cleanings to prevent bacterial growth. The design requires the canister be located near the dispensing nozzle.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,756,069 to Scoville et al. describes a two component concentrated beverage dispenser for a countertop wherein the two beverage components are pumped from separate compartments through one peristaltic pump and are combined in the mixing chamber. The flow rate from each compartment is uniform. The inability to control the flow rate for concentrates of different viscosity results in beverages that are not diluted properly in light of their particular viscosity.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,669,053 to Garson et al. discloses a vending machine beverage dispenser wherein beverage concentrate is connected to a manifold through a conduit having a valve that controls the flow of concentrate to the manifold when a vacuum pump is engaged. The valves are each controlled by a microprocessor that also controls the multiple pumps that control operation of each valve. The requirement for a separate pump to separately drive each vacuum pump is costly for home use.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,797,519 to Schroeder et al. discloses a tabletop postmix beverage dispenser wherein the concentrate is pumped via a peristaltic pump driven by a gearhead motor for each concentrate to be delivered. U.S. Pat. No. 5,797,519 requires a dedicated dispensing nozzle for each concentrate dispensed. The flow rate for each concentrate is determined by a ratio card which is inserted by a user into a slot in the door that informs the control system as to the ration to use for each concentrate package. The dispenser has limited capacity for beverage distribution since the concentrate is stored within the beverage dispenser.
Another issue with residential postmix beverage dispensers is that many children and adults are on restricted diets that require limited consumption of certain sugar drinks and or overall restriction of total calories in a day. A residential postmix dispenser that could monitor and track the consumption of dispensed beverages for each user would be useful for parents and dieters alike.
There is thus a present need for a method and apparatus which provide a post-mix dispenser smaller in size, less complex in operation, easier to clean and maintain, more affordable than commercial models, more suited for residential use, and also optionally containing some type of low beverage warning, as well as the ability to selectively assign unique user codes such that individual users can be identified and so that selected users can be assigned administrative privileges over other users. There is also a need for a method and apparatus which can use peristaltic pumps to reliably and predictably pump concentrates of various viscosities without risking the introduction of bacteria therein and without the requirement of providing separate motors for each pump.